Konkan bench state information commissioner, Thanksi Thekkekara defended the compensation order of Rs 5 lakh to an applicant. After the order was reported by the media, activists criticised it for lack of detailed reasoning for such a high amount of compensation.
The criticism was that while it may not stand scrutiny in court, it will also open the floodgates for seeking compensation. Thekkekara, however, in a series of messages stated that as per a Supreme Court order, her order was justified. "In Khanapuram Gandaiah vs administrative officer, civil appeal in 7571 of 2011, the honourable supreme court has said that 'A judge speaks through his judgments or orders passed by him.... A judge is not bound to explain later on for what reasons he had come to such a conclusion'. The RTI commission is a quasi-judicial authority. Please go through the order. You will find that MSEDCL first occupied the appellant's land without his permission rendering the entire piece of land unfit for use. The PIO denied him information as to how this was done and gave false information that the permission of the municipality was obtained and that oral permission was obtained. In fact they suppressed the provision of the second 10 (d) of the Telegraph Act which required fill compensation to be made to the land owner in case of destruction of private land. In this case the land was rendered unfit for any use any construction. (sic)"
However, questions on whether it is beyond the capacity of the commission to decide on compensating for the loss of land, arbitrary drop in the compensation from Rs20 lakhs to Rs5 lakhs, and if the commission will continue to give high compensation, the commissioner stated that it was the wrong replies that lead to the decision. "The false reply given has resulted in continued injustice and harassment. Hence the compensation... Each case has to be considered on its own merits," said Thekkekara.
The story so far:
The state information commission (SIC) has given a compensation of a whopping Rs 5 lakh to a right to information applicant. The money is to be given by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to Ambernath resident, Nitin Desai for the harassment meted out to him while providing him information, which happened to be misleading. The amount is highest ever compensation given to an individual as of now. The Rs5 lakhs compensation order was given on October 30 by state information commissioner (Konkan bench), Thanksi Thekkekara.
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